Carbon collector bow



Dec. 15, 1942. F. LEucHs CARBON COLLECTOR Bow,

Filed May ll, 1940 Patented Dec. 15, 1942 CARBON COLLECTOR BGW Friedrich Leuch's, Nuremberg, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application May 11, 1940, serial No. 334,617 In Germany May 23, 1939 sclaims. ((21.191--55i` Y This invention relates to a collector bow of carbon material including a. streamline facing.

It is an important object of the present inventionv to provide a collector bow of the type referredto having minimum weight, high mechanical strength and rigidity and minimum resistance.

With this land further objects in view, as may become apparent from the within disclosures, the invention consists not only in the structures herein pointed out and illustrated by the drawing, but includes further structures coming with in the scope of what hereinafter may be claimed.

rlhe character of the invention, however, may be bestunderstood by reference to certain of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying 'drawing in which- N y Fig. 1 is a side view of a curved contact mem'- ber having the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the contact member shown in Fig. l, on line A-A of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line B-B of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side view of a straight contact member having the invention applied thereto Fig. 5 is a cross section on line C-C of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a cross section on line Df-D of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a bottom Aview of the contact member shown in Fig. 4.

, Similar reference numerals denote similar parts in the different views.

Various types of straight and curved carbon collector bows'having a light metal holder cast around the carbon are already known. The requirements to be met by such collector Jbows are: high resistance to bendingiand blows, minimum weight and minimum air resistance at high speeds of the vehicles on which the vsliding bow is mounted. The collector bows, however, in most cases have a considerable weight, since the cast metal with 'a view to its mechanical strength must have strong walls and stiffening ribs or tension rods.

It is also known to provide the cast holder of straight or arched carbon collector bows with one or more ribs arranged at their underside and being perforated to reduce their air resistance.

- However, at high travelling speed these perforations do not oifer any substantial advantages. On the other hand, it is also known to form the cast holder with a streamline'possibly hollow, shape. In this case, however, the cast holder is more or less parallel to the arching of the curved contact bow and, therefore, does not prevent bending and breakage of the same. To prevent bending of an arched collector bow, it has also by means of a straight tie rod, preventing the end portions from yielding to pressure. Such tie rods, however, are liable to oscillation at'high travelling speed and, moreover, air pressure is set up between the holder and the tie rod, whereby the air resistance is increased again. In order to reduce the air lresistance of collector bows of this type, a suitable facing would have to be' provided around the complete metal holder frame; this, of course, would mean a further increase` of weight and high inertia in the operation of the collector bow on its scissors-shape collectorl substructure.

Now, with the above mentioned objects in view, I contemplate the provision of a slide member comprising a combined metal mounting including a cast metal holder and a streamline facing, the stiifening ribs being omitted, whereby the metal holder will show absence of casting stresses and greatly reduced weight. Tie rods or the likeare also dispensed with. Since, as above mentioned, a cast holder extending in parallel to the curvature of the carbon member is unsatisfactory with a view to protecting the carbon against breakage, the cast holder is stiffened in two directions by means of a light streamline facing, i. e., in a longitudinal and transverse direction.

Referring now tothe drawing in greater detail, and first to Figs. 1 to 3, the curved carbon slide body a is secured in a substantially smooth caston metal holder b of U-cross section to which the streamline facing is secured. In the embodiments shown in-,the drawing, the streamline facing is roof-shaped, but it is also contemplated that it may be more or less curved. No stiffening ribs are provided anywhere on the metal holder, and the sameu can be made very light. Projections d at the end portions of the metal castings b form part of the streamline structure, as shown. Screws or pins y serve to secure the bent metal sheets c to the metal castings b and their projections d, respectively.

The streamline facing c is in this case arranged so that its lower edge e connects the two end portions f rigidly and in a straight line, tie rodfashion, while its side portions are bent or curved to extend up to the cast holder b, and secured thereto by screw or pin connections g, as shown, or by welding. Y

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 7, embodying a straight carbon body a', the arrangement is substantially similar to that described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, except that the streamline facing been suggested to interconnect the end portions c' is in this case arranged in such a manner that its height is larger in the center of the slide body than at the ends thereof to provide the maximum moment of resistance of the bow in its center portion, while the side faces of the streamline facing are again extended up to the cast holder b and rigidly secured thereto, as above described.

It will be understood that in my novel collector arrangement the streamline facing acts as an additional support or stiffening member for the sliding member, protecting the same againstdownward bending and adding to its resistance to lateral shocks. At the same time, it is possible to reduce the weight of the cast holder which represents the greatest shareof the total weight, to a very low amount, so that the cast holder Iper se would not have a suflicient mechanical strength and rigidity, while the mechanical strength 'of the combined unit is very high and the aerodynamic shape is very favourable, avoiding the formation of' whirls or overpressure. It 'has proved very advantageous to provide the lugs or extensions d or d at the end prtions of the collector bow, as part of the streamline-facing, since these -cast-on portions` add to the strength and rigidity of the metal casting and of the sheet metal facing to be mounted thereon. y f

vThe method and apparatus of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to specic embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited by such specific reference but is broader in scope and capable of Lother embodiments than those specifically described and illustrated in the drawing. Y

I It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. y

I claim: Y

l. A collector bow for electric vehicles, comprising a carbon silde body, a substantially smooth metal holder cast to the car-bon body and dimensioned to be substantially too light for the desired mechanical strength andv rigidity of the bow, and a 'substantially streamline facing of sheet metal secured to the underside of the metal holder, said facing having an outer cross section adapted to reduce the air resistance of the collector bow and to form a stiffener for said bow replacing the deficiency in mechanical strength and rigidity due to the under-dimensioning of the holder.

2. A collector bow for electric vehicles, comlprising a carbon slide body, a substantially smooth metal holder cast to said carbon body and dimensioned to be substantially AAtoolight as to have in itself sufficient mechanical strength and rigidity top revent bending and breakage of the carbon body in operation, and a facing of sheet metal having a substantially `U-shaped cross section of low air resistance and secured with the free ends of the U to the side faces of said metal holder, said U-cross section being higher in the Ycenter than at the ends, for forming a stiffening for said holder.

3. A collector bow for electric vehicles, comprising a carbon slide body, a substantially smooth metal holder cast to said carbon body and dimensioned to be substantially too light as to have in itself sufficient mechanical strength and rigidity to prevent bending and breakage of the carbon body in operation, and a facing of sheet metal having a substantially U-shaped cross section of low air resistance and secured with the free ends of the U to the side faces of said metal holder, said U-cross section being higher in the center than at the ends, for forming a stiffening for said holder, the end portions of said cast metal holder being formed with integral down- -wardly extending projections engaging the inside of said sheet metal facing.

4. A collector bow for electric vehicles fed from a line conductor, comprising a carbon slide body curved tangentially and transversely to the line conductor, a substantially smooth metal holder cast to the carbon body and dimensioned to be substantially too light as to have a sufficient mechanical strength and rigidity, and a facing of sheet metal secured to the underside of the metal holder, said facing having a straight lower edge, for forming a stiifening for said holder and having a substantially U-shaped cross section adapted to reduce the air resistance ofthe collector bow.

5. A collector bow for electric vehicles, comprising a straight carbon slide body, a substantially smooth metal holder cast to the carbon body and dimensioned to be substantially too light as to have a sufficient mechanical strength and rigidity, and a facing of sheet metal secured to the underside of the metal holder, said facing having a downwardly curved lower edge for forming a stiffening for said holder and having a substantially U-shaped cross section adapted to reduce the air resistance of the collector bow.

FRIEDRICH LEUCHS. 

